Chapter 322: Fist and Ruin I

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Lu Mei and Yi Jiao face off in the third match of the day. Gold and crimson flames war for dominance over the ring while the audience ooohs and ahhhs at all the appropriate times. However, they are not blind to the obvious. In the battle between gold and crimson, gold is the clear victor. Mere minutes have passed, yet Yi Jiao is already panting, battered, and bruised.

Lu Mei barely has a hair out of place.

“I…surrender,” Yi Jiao says through gritted teeth. The way Lu Mei’s smile widens makes Yi Jiao immediately want to take back her words.

“You should have saved yourself the trouble and done that from the start, dear cousin,” Lu Mei says.

Yi Jiao really, really wants to take back her surrender.

“If I had done that, I’d never be able to call myself your cousin-in-law, would I?” Yi Jiao counters.

As far as the Eternal Flame Clan is concerned, Yi Jiao is a girl of no relevant background. Her Scarlet Miraculous Body is the only noteworthy thing about her, and that is not enough to justify her relationship with the son of the future Patriarch. There is no telling when Lord Feng Gui will put a woman or two in Feng Zhi’s path. Not that Feng Zhi would ever abandon her, but that is precisely the problem. Feng Zhi trying to fight against his father’s designs out of loyalty to her will just make things more complicated.

Before anything like that happens, Yi Jiao needs to make merits. Making it to the Top 8 would have been preferable, but the Top 16 isn’t bad at all. That she lost to the Eternal Flame makes her loss far more acceptable than it would otherwise be. No one in the Eternal Flame Clan can find shame in losing to the Eternal Flame…

Is that why the annoying woman in front of her used the Eternal Flame from the start?

Yi Jiao looks askance at her.

Lu Mei smiles and shrugs her shoulders.

“The Winner! Lu Mei of the Eternal Flame Clan!”

~~~

Su Daji of the Endlessly Raging Valley takes the stage after Lu Mei and Yi Jiao have had their match. Though her opponent proves strong, he is simply no match for the personal disciple of the Wandering Wind. There is no doubt that the girl will advance to the Top 8 and face Lu Mei of the Eternal Flame Clan. Their upcoming fight already has a substantial amount of money attached to it.

Ruan Chenshu does not care about that.

Before Su Daji’s fight is over, the man stands up from his seat. He does not bother coming up with a reason to excuse himself because he knows the Wandering Wind does not care whether he is with her or not. He fully believes that the Wandering Wind will not pay him any attention as he leaves the box and calmly exits the arena.

Even so, he does his best not to appear abnormal.

Ruan Chenshu wills his heart to not beat too loudly and his body not to sweat. He controls the movements of his muscles so they do not come across as either hurried or deliberately slow. Even the color of his soul never betrays anything of note. All those things are necessary. All those things are insufficient. If the Wandering Wind stops him for any reason, this will all be over.

He can only believe he is beneath her notice.

He is.

No sigh of relief leaves Ruan Chenshu’s mouth once he is firmly outside the arena. That is a luxury he does not have. Some people would call him paranoid. Those people are probably fated to live very short and unremarkable lives.

Ruan Chenshu takes a step.

The streets of Imperial Cloud City blur before his eyes as multiple miles go by in an instant. For a cultivator such as him, eyesight is no longer necessary. Ruan Chenshu does not make a single misstep on the way to his destination, intercepting his prey with impeccable accuracy. His hand rises and wraps around her neck, lifting her off the ground and dragging her to the nearest alley. All in the blink of an eye.

Before Xiao Yifan’s back hits a wall, multiple talismans have already flown from Ruan Chenshu’s sleeves and attached themselves to the walls, muting their presence.

“What,” he hisses with cold rage, “is the meaning of this?”

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Xiao Yifan is outside the Xiao Sect’s estate. Outside the many barriers that help disguise her presence. Since Ruan Chenshu always keeps some of his attention focused on her, he noticed the instant she left the Xiao Sect’s estate. More importantly, he noticed Xiao Yifan was on her way to the arena.

That can absolutely not be allowed to happen.

“Well?” Ruan Chenshu asks when Xiao Yifan fails to reply. The woman just smiles, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

And why shouldn’t she be? She wanted him to stop her.

Xiao Yifan had been walking towards the arena, but that was the thing. She had been walking. A cultivator like her could have easily gotten there in the blink of an eye. Stopping her would have required Ruan Chenshu to act in a far more overt manner. There’d have been no hiding his actions from the Wandering Wind.

“What is there to say?” Xiao Yifan wonders, still wearing that insufferable smile. “Am I a child that needs your permission to leave the house?”

“Enough foolishness. My instructions were clear,” Ruan Chenshu says.

Xiao Yifan’s smile grows.